A few nights ago in Mendoza I spent some time with a wine expert at “Wine Not,” a creatively named tasting room only a block from my hotel. I kept notes on seven wines, discussed below. Please recognize that I am far from an expert and like most of us I just know what I like! Which, in the case of wine, are many different bottles.

The Domo 2015 Sauvignon Blanc was up first, proof that good wines come out of Mendoza. This one hails from the Uco Valley, the newest region in Mendoza that everyone is excited about because of the experimentation of the boutique wineries. I found it clean and straightforward, on the opposite of the scale of the New Zealand grassy SBs, a trend sometimes followed in the US Northwest IMO. Hints of banana and light citrus and a soft finish. Great for the back porch or lighter dishes.

Next was the Mapu Cura 2015 Chardonnay. Now I’ve had my share of Chards back in my chef days in California, when there was an arms race to see who could get the most oak into the wine. (Sometimes I feel this way about IPAs in the beer world.) Once again the Argentines produced a crisp and only slightly buttery wine, light and a bit earthy. My host claimed that it was due to the soil. Those looking for a fuller body chard, such as the mid priced ones produced in California, will be less satisfied with this one, but I liked its honesty. I’d be afraid to serve anything too rich or creamy with it, however.

Rose. OMG, for years I had no idea that this could be anything more than a picnic wine right up there with Zima (Wabash joke).  When I was a chef in the 1980s wineries couldn’t produce enough of the sweet pink stuff. My boss refused to carry it, saying it was tacky. Inevitably some tourists would ask for it and the waiters would mix a sweeter white wine with some red in the back and serve it as house rose! Anyway, times have changed, or perhaps I just never was exposed to roses that were not sugar water. This Marcus Zunida Rosé reminded me of a couple wines I’ve shared with Jim Amidon. Very slight tannin, pretty dry, with a light finish. It would be good by the pool as well as with some poultry dishes, I believe. So this one is made with the Bornardo grape, mentioned in my last post as a red wine.

The fourth wine (don’t judge — these were less than half a glass each!) was a 2012 La Padovana Malbac. Well, I’ve had plenty of Malbec purchased at Kroger in the past few years. It’s a good sturdy wine and I can understand why they export so much of it. I actually did not care that much for this one, preferring my “Mendoza” (probably a mix) from the Kroger shelves for a steak. All the same it was interesting. I thought that there was a bifurcated balance between the fruity grape on one side and a sharp tannic bight on the other. It was as if both sides of the spectrum needed to be brought closer. Although it is not that young I did wonder what more time might do for the smooth factor.

The owner quickly brought me out a Tierras Altas Cabernet. He was quick to note that both wines came from similar soils and conditions in the Luja de Cuyo region, yet this one was smoother with a pleasant light tannin. This would work for many steak as well as pasta dishes, and I am not likely to say that about many wines. It could even handle some spicy food. This is one worth importing IMO. Not as deep as the California cabs that I like to pair with my New York, but a very sturdy and interesting wine.

Another big grape in Mendoza is Tempranillo. This 2015 Latente version is quite smooth and ready to drink IMO. The owner noted that the problem with this wine is that it goes down so well you literally could drink it all day! I have no idea what the price point is but my sense is that it is higher that the $9 Malbecs I’ve been buying at Kroger. Who knows… I’ll leave that to the wine experts, Howard!

We finished the night with this Susana Balbo Late Harvest Malbec. I remember some late harvest wines from California: they develop a natural sweetness and some higher alcohol content. It’s not fortified and not very sweet but it most definitely is a dessert wine. Chocolate chocolate chocolate. Fourteen out of every ten people like chocolate and many will like this wine with it. The Malbec flavor comes through in this semi-port finisher. Not for savory food but great with dessert or a cigar…. well, not that last one for me but I can think of a few of you who would like that.

Transitions

Today I crossed the Andes by bus from Mendoza to Santiago de Chile. Some of you may have seen some pictures of this journey on Facebook. Photos do not capture the beauty and emotion. I made some connections to my research on this trek that I will share in the next post. For now, I leave you with a piece of the beauty that was my day: